Nadhim Zahawi, the Minister for Business and Industry, recently visited the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Broughton (AMRC Cymru), where he called the UK the “home of innovation and enterprise in aerospace”.

He said that technologies being developed by the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) are crucial to reducing the environmental impact of air travel and enabling the Government to reach its target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Mr Zahawi visited the AMRC’s newest facility, the first High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult centre in Wales, as part of an event to launch the Aerospace Sector Deal — One Year On report, which calls the UK’s aerospace sector a ‘world leader in the manufacture of engines, wings and advanced systems’, directly employing 115,000 people in all parts of the UK.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy estimates that the sector is worth £36 billion a year to the economy.

The report says that the sector needs to focus on the ‘delivery of technologies that help reduce the environmental impact of air travel’, citing Airbus’s Wing of Tomorrow programme, which is being delivered with the help of engineers at AMRC Cymru (www.amrc.co.uk/facilities/amrc-cymru-wales).

Mr Zahawi said: “Last year, we became the first major economy to put a net-zero emissions target into law.

“With the number of flights soaring, it is clear that the aerospace industry will be critical, as we make this massive transition, and the demand for green aviation technologies will be immense.”